Right now, the tar sands, a toxic oil reserve almost the size of Saudi Arabia's but over 3 times as dangerous for climate change, sits landlocked in Northern Canada. People power has twice blocked new pipelines into this poison, but now we have a bigger challenge.

A new trade deal, negotiated in secret with China...

All STUPID?

All on our only one planet, here and NOW,
Martin
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See new freedom: Mageia4Linux Voice See & try out your OS Freedom!
The Future is what We make IT (GPLv3)

Unless you get every stinking country in thw world to convert to renewables at the same time your going to get secret deals.
Reminds me of the story of the ant and the grasshopper. Some folks dont care about what might happen untill it happens. Same story here. When we finally run out of oil then the politcos will do something.
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Old James

Has 'so called' man made global warming been compared to natural warming? If not why not?

At what cost? At what cost to man is this going to be? Is there a replacement for oil? And I mean a REAL replacement for oil, not pie in the sky ideas and at what cost is it going to be?

What hard evidence do you have? We have been on the planet 'as we are now' for 120,000 years. Sooooo, your gonna have to give me some real and hard evidence. Prove this warming is a UNnatural cycle.

In order to understand where a proof needs to start, we need to understand what you accept, and what you need further evidence for, so I ask again, do you accept the physics of the greenhouse gas effect?
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I think you'll find it's a bit more complicated than that ...

Substantial. Over two centuries of very heavy evidence. It's only now that the direct immediate effects and consequences have become so significant as to now dwarf all 'natural' 'cyclic' effects.

Imagine Wile E. Coyote having run off a cliff and is feeling around for the ground whilst still in mid air and not daring to look down. We're just falling out of the pause before the acceleration downwards...

The evidence and science are as conclusive as we can get and have been for some time. Sorry, but Science has no belief in divine retribution... It is we ourselves doing the significant pollution of our atmosphere and the entire planet.

BHP Billiton – the mining giant with massive coal interests – is laying out its own cash rebuilding a coastal facility to cope with climate change. ...

... the irony of the story skips past “delicious”, pays a passing nod to schadenfraude and lands somewhere between “you’re kidding” and “too good to be true”, because the facility in question is a coal terminal. Here’s a salient quote:

“The potential for rising sea levels and more cyclones [hurricanes outside Australia] due to climate change was a factor in [BHP’s] decision to replace a jetty at its Hay Point coal export terminal”.

[...]

“As we see more cyclone related events . . . the vulnerability of one of these facilities to a cyclone is quite high,” he said. “So we build a model saying this is how we see this impacting what the economics would be and used that with our board of directors to rebuild the facility to be more durable to climate change.” ...

To misquote a famous politician:

"We now enter our own age of consequences..."

Stupid or Not Stupid?

All on our only planet,
Martin
____________
See new freedom: Mageia4Linux Voice See & try out your OS Freedom!
The Future is what We make IT (GPLv3)

But this conference - the 18th Conference of the Parties, or COP18 - will not prevent any CO2 being released into the atmosphere - that will be left to future meetings. Indeed if it does not tighten the rules on "hot air" this conference could result in an increase in emissions. ...

UN climate talks in Doha have closed with a historic shift in principle but few genuine cuts in greenhouse gases.

As it agreed to extend the Kyoto Protocol, the summit established for the first time that rich nations should move towards compensating poor nations for losses due to climate change.

This was hailed as a breakthrough by developing nations.

But they condemned the gulf between the science of climate change and political attempts to tackle it.

[...]

The major task of this two-week conference has been untangling of the diplomatic spaghetti from climate agreements that have grown piecemeal over the past 15 years.

... it was quickly evident that making a global agreement fair to all parties will be monumentally difficult.

The talks were chaired by Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah, a former head of the oil cartel Opec. He was widely criticised for his laid-back style earlier in the week but at the last there was the unlikely spectacle of environmentalists cheering the ruthlessness of the chair in crushing the Russian revolt.

A hapless Christmas-present thief in France's central Loire region spent the festive season behind bars after leaving his mobile phone at the scene of the crime and going to the police to report it lost

... scientists have used the data recorded by the scanning to measure the speed at which floes are melting in the Arctic, while the scale models - which melt slowly before your eyes - provide a stunning visual display for visitors to the gallery. ...

Stupid or Not Stupid?

All on our only one planet,
Martin
____________
See new freedom: Mageia4Linux Voice See & try out your OS Freedom!
The Future is what We make IT (GPLv3)

Indonesia is banking on an unusual strategy to prevent further flooding in its inundated capital Jakarta, and officials claim that they are already seeing positive results.

They are using 'cloud seeding' — a weather modification technology often resorted to during drought. The method involves injecting clouds with substances that encourage the formation of ice crystals heavy enough to fall, thereby speeding up the production of rain.

Rain is the last thing that Indonesia needs now, as it has been experiencing heavy rainfall since mid-January.

But Indonesian scientists believe that inducing rains to fall over the ocean before the rainclouds reach the city will help prevent further flooding...

Stupid or Not Stupid?

All on our only one planet,
Martin
____________
See new freedom: Mageia4Linux Voice See & try out your OS Freedom!
The Future is what We make IT (GPLv3)

... Each summer, the sea ice on which they rely to hunt seals is getting thinner and smaller in extent - threatening to upset their way of life.

Here, American photographer and conservationist Jenny E Ross - and Andrew Derocher, professor of biological sciences at the University of Alberta - give their opinions on how climate change is affecting the lives of polar bears...

Scotland generated 7% more renewable electricity in 2012 than it did the previous year...

The Scottish government said it had generated enough electricity to power the equivalent of every Scottish home. The amount generated also represented 39% of Scotland's total electricity needs. ...

... He said: "We remain firmly on course to generate the equivalent of 100% of Scotland's electricity needs from renewables by 2020 - with renewables generating more than enough electricity to supply every Scottish home."

BP wants Prime Minister David Cameron to intervene over the escalating cost of compensating US companies for the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster in 2010. ... BP feels its financial recovery is in jeopardy because the compensation system is being abused. ...

...The Deepwater Horizon disaster killed 11 oil rig workers and released an estimated four million barrels of oil into the Gulf and along the coastline. ...

... "The problem is they've written a blank cheque to the businesses of Louisiana and not asked them to prove causality, ie: 'Was it the well spill that actually caused you problems at your business?'

"You can argue it is being abused, but that was the settlement they made and they are trying to wriggle out of it."

In March, BP began legal action in the US to limit payments by the fund set up to compensate those affected by the disaster. However, our business editor says that BP executives believe that even if it wins the appeal, the final cost of compensating firms will still be "significantly" higher than the amount it has set aside.

... One consequence is that lawyers in the affected region of Louisiana and adjacent states are urging any business which can show a fall in cash flow since the oil spill to make a claim. BP claims that "plaintiffs lawyers across the Gulf region are now openly advertising that the settlement is a way for claimants to collect payouts even if they have no losses at all". ...